My father Paul Thomason, who was retired from the textile industry, worked part-time at Franks store and happened to be working this particular day. Shortly after noon I told my wife I was going down to the store and asked if she needed anything. For the life of me I dont remember now what it was I was going to the store to get but I do recall that she didnt want anything. The front door of our mobile home swung open to the right and as you stepped out onto the porch you would be looking directly at Franks One Stop. As I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch I saw what I thought was a light wisp of smoke coming from the gable vent on the south end of the store. For just a moment I stopped to make sure that I really saw what I thought I saw and there it was again. For another second it didnt register in my mind just what that smoke portended. Then like a ton of bricks it hit me. Yelling back to my wife that I thought the One Stop was on fire I ran down the porch steps and out to my car. I sped the short distance to the store to find where the smoke was coming from. If it was on fire I wanted to be sure that my father, and anyone else who might be in the store, knew about it and they all got out safely.

As my car skidded to a stop in the store yard I saw billowing black smoke boil out of the hardware department as the front door swung open. Emerging from that smoke was my father, staggering and coughing as he came out of the building. I knew then there was definitely a fire in the store and from the amount of oily black smoke chasing my father out of the building I knew it was going to be a lot more than a garden hose could handle. Jumping from my car I asked my dad if he was okay. He said he was and then told me that the ceiling had fallen in behind him. I realized that the store was not only on fire but also in serious trouble. Knowing my father was safe I turned to run to the front door to find Marie and Mama Duke.

My father, Marie Castellana, Mama Duke, and Lizzie Darty the housekeeper were the only ones working at the store that day. It was spring break for the school system and Frank Sr. and the children were enjoying the morning by taking the day off to go to Lake Jackson. There were a couple of men eating in the diner when Marie realized there was a fire and told them to leave. The two men calmly got up from the table and took their plates with them. Believe it or not, they later brought the plates back and gave them to Marie. Those plates would be the only things to survive the fire.

Marie came out the door of the diner while Mama Duke and Lizzie came out the front door of the grocery section. The look on their faces was a mixture of panic, stunned awe and disbelief. Marie asked me if I had called the fire department. I told her I hadnt yet but now that I knew that everyone was safely out of the store I was going back to the house and get help on the way. Back at my house I called the Covington Fire Department. (No one had ever heard of 9-1-1. I had to dial only seven digits since the area code wasnt required back then). I called the Covington Fire Department because I knew they had more than just one man and one truck on duty. I hoped against hope they would respond quickly and could get the fire put out before everything burned to the ground. Looking back, when they asked me if anyone was still inside the store I should have said yes. Since I told them everyone had gotten out safely they would not respond out into the county since no life was in immediate danger. They instead dispatched the one man, one truck Newton County Fire Department.

After making the call I raced back to the store. By the time I returned the attic over the hardware section was very heavily involved in fire and the remaining ceiling was falling in. The heat beginning to radiate from the fire was unbelievable. In the hardware section small arms ammunition was starting to explode and shell casings could be heard zinging through the air. Aerosol containers and propane gas cylinders were going off like small bombs. Some type of canister apparently sprang a leak instead of exploding and the sound it made reminded me of a screaming rocket in a fireworks display. It was beginning to sound as if a small war had broken out inside the store.

You could hear the ceiling joist creak and moan before falling with a thud as they weakened, burned through and crashed down onto the floor. The power lines from the utility pole to the store began to smoke before they burned through and fell to the ground. Once on the ground they twisted and hissed like a wounded, angry snake until the transformers fuse finally blew. With the flow of electricity interrupted the writhing wires finally stopped and lay still.

Marie, Mama Duke, my Dad and Lizzie stood huddled in the corner of the parking lot. The looks on their faces said that they still did not believe what they were witnessing. My face must have had the same look because I couldnt believe it, either. Never in my life had I felt more helpless than I did just then. The scope of the tragedy was more than I could comprehend at one time.